Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 150511062

Survey work to conserve the Critically Endangered endemic Horrid ground weaver spider (Nothophantes horridus).

The Horrid ground-weaver spider (Nothophantes horridus) is a tiny money spider (Linyphiid). This spider is endemic to the UK, and so rare it has only been found in three places in the entire world! The sites are all within a small area of Plymouth, in South West England.

The spider is listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered.  One of the three known sites has been lost to development, and another has recently been threatened by an application to build houses on the site.

There is an urgent need to eatablish the status and distribution of this species and better understand its ecology.  Buglife will survey historical sites, and sites within similar ecological conditions in Plymouth and South Devon.  The project will also undertake ecological research.

The spider has been recorded in limestone quarries, and so habitats including quarries, railway cuttings and sea cliffs where limestone deposits occur will be targeted by the surveys.

For more information visit the Buglife website.

Project documents

• photograph of survey work
• photograph of survey work
• photograph of survey work




Project 150511062 location - United Kingdom, Europe